When a company is so proud of itself that it can't settle for less then 5 recruiters and 200 resumes (supposedly), I wish there was time for them to follow this recipe... My own experience: 1. The majority of companies ask for links but never checks portfolios and blogs of a candidate (I have a little software bird to tell me). 2. Every step except the f2f interview is replaced by a few phone screens, 40-60 minutes each, by people comparing answers with cheat sheets. It really puzzles me why it should be more then 1 of those and why it should be done over the phone, not in writing. 3. Asking for a test project is likely to result in an HR/manager permanent disappearance. 4. If a candidate brings a demo project to an interview (a short pitch) they are told there is no time to look.

There's no magic bullet for hiring programmers. But I can share advice on a few techniques that I've seen work, that I've written about here and personally tried out over the years. 1. First, pass a few simple "Hello World" online tests. I know it sounds crazy, but some people who call themse...